Raystar RS12 GPS Antenna

[jono63812]

Hi, I have recently upgraded my nav electronics. I have purchased a E80 Chartplotter. My old chart plotter had a Raystar RS12 GPS Antenna, and I would like to use this with my new E80 set up.

The RS12 has its own 6 points connector on the end, that used to go into the back of the A80 chart plotter, is it possible to cut this off and wire it into the NMEA 0183 port. The problem I have read about is that the RS12 is permanently set to a 9600 Baud rate......will I be able to run this though my Multiplexer (that I am using for my AIS)?

Or is there no way to make the RS12 work with my new setup, and do I need to bite the bullet and buy a new GPS Antenna.

Thanks

[Pizzazz]

If you have the Raymarine multiplexer which is permanently set at 4800 bps and you cannot change the RS12 rate, you will not be able to go that route.

However, you probably do not want to use the old GPS anyway. More recent GPSs can have higher precision and update much faster at 5 times or 10 times/sec which is desirable.

Look for a nmea 0183 or 2000 GPS that you can interface to the E80. One way to go is to get a cheap Garmin chartplotter unit. Another is eBay. A third way is to look for a VHF radio that has GPS and AIS. You want to get as much pieces integrated into the main units which are radio and chartplotter. Finally, note that the E80 will only accept AIS data via the Nmea 0183 port not the 2000 port. Not a big issue since you have the multiplexer already.

One last point, depending on what else you are feeding into the E80, you can set the E80 to 9600 baud (called Navtex 9600 mode) and get a GPS fix with the current setup. However it would use the port. So no fast heading, no AIS, no non-Seatalk integration. Hope it is all clear.

[smac999]

I have never heard of a rs12. Is this before the 120 and 125? If so it's over 10 years old. The 120 and 125s are all failing In the past few years . I can't imagine the 12 would be trust worthy if it's before the 120